Feast of Saint John Mary Vianney

Good morning. Today in the Gospel Jesus not only gives Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, He likewise reveals to him and to us the key to life’s meaning. He notes that He will suffer and die and we likewise will do the same, and it is in our suffering that we find meaning. It is most unfortunate that many in today’s world struggle to find meaning in life’s suffering; in fact, many tend to look away refusing to accept it. They instead look to materialism and scientism for the answers to pain and suffering. Our Saint for today, Saint John Mary Vianney, warns of this tendency to seek comfort in the things of this world; he said: “I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the Cross than in serving the world and its pleasures.” In his Apostolic Letter, Salvifici Doloris, Blessed Pope John Paul II notes that “At one and the same time Christ has taught man to do good by his suffering and to do good to those who suffer. In this double aspect He has completely revealed the meaning of suffering.” In the sacrament of marriage and in its unfolding within the gift of family we clearly unite with Christ in the suffering that naturally comes with becoming and being a parent and in the compassion found in the parenting of our children in their sufferings. This redemptive concept of suffering tends to get lost in today’s spiritually ignorant culture. This reluctance to sacrifice, deny oneself, and to embrace the discomforts life presents to us offers much in the way of explaining the decline in the numbers of young men and women entering the priesthood and religious life. Today as we commemorate the life of Saint John Mary Vianney may we take the time to reflect upon the sacrifice parents and others make toward fostering vocations to the priesthood and may we be mindful of the ongoing sacrifice priests make toward attending to our spiritual well-being. May we, on the Feast of Saint John Mary Vianney, offer our own sufferings for the ministries of our priests, and offer our sufferings for the reparation of those priests who have offended. Make a great day!

Today we recall the good life, gifts, and works of Saint John Mary Vianney.